Parts of province taking first small steps to normal

Saskatchewan officially launched the first phase of its Re- Open Saskatchewan plan on Monday, even as the province announced eight new locally identified COVID-19 cases in La Loche and 18 new confirmed cases over the weekend.

This brings the Saskatchewan total to 433. A total of 305 people have recovered.

The eight cases in the La Loche area are locally identified presumptive positive cases. These cases have not yet been reported by the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory (RRPL), and so are not included in the provincial total.

On Saturday, the Meadow Lake Co-op sent out a letter to its customers and owners over social media to inform them that an employee at the Service Centre was a confirmed case of COVID-19.

The individual went into isolation earlier in the week when they started displaying symptoms. The Service Centre is temporarily closed while staff sanitize. It’s expected to reopen on Tuesday, the letter said.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority told reporters on Friday that it would work to improve its communication of cases after a delay in notifying the public about an outbreak at Lloydminster Hospital, which involved five staff and eight patients. The outbreak was made public on Wednesday, although the SHA knew of it on Monday.

Starting Monday, medical services including dentistry, optometry, physical therapy, optician services, podiatry, occupational therapy and chiropractic treatment will be allowed to resume as phase one of the province’s Reopen Saskatchewan plan. Boat launches and fishing are also allowed in this phase.

But the plan is no longer applicable to all parts of Saskatchewan. La Loche and Lloydminster are excluded from this plan for the time being because of recent outbreaks.

La Loche has become a particular area of concern over the past week as the number of cases in the area continues to rise.

As a result, the SHA announced an enhanced testing approach in La Loche, Clearwater River Dene Nation, Black Point and Garson Lake on Friday.

It will see 19 mobile testing teams — each comprising two clinical staff and one local staff member — going door to door to 750-some households.

An outbreak was also declared in Beauval on Friday evening by the office of the northern medical health officers for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and the Northern Inter-tribal Health Authority, according to a news release from the SHA. Contact tracing is underway in the area.

An outbreak at Prince Albert’s Victoria Hospital was declared earlier on Friday after a longterm patient was diagnosed with COVID -19.

There are currently 14 people in hospital. Eleven are receiving in-patient care, with five in the north and six in Saskatoon, and three are in intensive care in Saskatoon.

The province is reminding people that despite the reopening plan, the Public Health Order remains in place requiring people to limit any gatherings to no more than 10 people, continue physical distancing of two metres, and stay home if they are sick. People planning to form an extended household group should continue to exercise extreme caution, says a government news release.

Of Saskatchewan’s 433 cases, 122 are considered active and 305 people have recovered. Travellers make up 138 of the cases, 176 are community contacts including mass gatherings, 40 have no known exposures and 79 are under investigation by local public health.

OVERALL IN SASKATCHEWAN:

■ 42 of the cases are health care workers; however, the source of the infections may not be related to health care in all instances.

■ 161 of the cases are from the Saskatoon area, 89 from the north, 76 from the Regina area, 81 from the far north, 15 from the south, and 11 from the central region.

■ 40 cases involve people 19 years of age and under, while the remainder are adults.

■ 159 cases are in the 20-39 age range; 141 are in the 40-59 age range; 78 are in the 60-79 age range; and 15 are in the 80-plus range.

■ 50 per cent of the cases are males and 50 per cent are females.

■ Six deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported to date.

■ To date, 31,572 COVID -19 tests have been performed in the province.